THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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extreme femininity, to leave the matter 

 entirely to the men. 



And what a wonderful government 

 these Frenchmen have made through 

 their vote ! Democracy is indeed the test 

 of all national activities. The French 

 government shows genuine respect for 

 the average citizen ; indeed, every French- 

 man seems proud that he is simply an 

 average citizen. Hence the whole ten- 

 dency of the government is to work con- 

 sciously against legalization of social ine- 

 qualities. 



Any man with ability and ambition can 

 rise to any position. The bourgeoisie or 

 middle class — that is, the traders, profes- 

 sional men, military officers, peasant-pro- 

 prietors, etc. — is so large that all other 

 classes are negligible, and necessarily 

 there is extremely wide social equality. 



Again, French democracy, since it is 

 popular, is admirably authoritative. The 

 people show a surprising submission to a 

 large amount of state administration. It 

 is not the supine submission found in 

 Germany or the uninquiring attitude 

 found in a large portion of England's 

 lowest classes ; it is willing, intelligent 



obedience to administrative machinery 

 created by the people themselves. 



Perhaps, as stated before, there is. too 

 much machinery ; perhaps there is too 

 much centralization of national activities 

 under government control in one spot 

 (Paris) ; but, after all, the widespread 

 interest in active self-government, the 

 healthful, vigorous, often passionate, 

 public discussion, the political alertness 

 of the people as a whole, means safety 

 for France. 



There may be too much centralization 

 in Paris ; but every Frenchman, whether 

 he lives in a Normandy village or in the 

 mountains that look toward Switzerland, 

 is proud of this city that has long been 

 the light of the world. 



"The light of the world!" May not 

 the words be applied justly to all France? 

 What would Europe be without her? 

 One can conceive of a Europe existing 

 without Germany or Russia, but the glory 

 of the continent would be extinguished if 

 France should die. It is for her and what 

 she has long represented in liberty that 

 the world battled yesterday. That nation 

 which seeks to destroy France is fore- 

 doomed to destruction. 



THE PRICE OF LIBERTY, EQUALITY, 

 FRATERNITY 



THE price in stalwart young man- 

 hood which the French nation has 

 paid during the world war to pre- 

 serve human liberties has exceeded by 

 appalling numbers the toll exacted of her 

 associate Allies. 



While France has not yet made an 

 official announcement as to her losses, it 

 is estimated that one million eight hun- 

 dred thousand French patriots have laid 

 down their lives on the altar of their 

 country's freedom ; one million gave limb, 

 sight, or health, and were thus rendered 

 permanently incapacitated for their accus- 

 tomed pursuits of peace ; one million two 

 hundred thousand others sustained inju- 

 ries which have retarded their activities. 



Thus, four million men is the tribute 

 that war has exacted of what Mr. Holli- 

 day rightly characterizes as the most civ- 

 ilized country on the globe for the salva- 

 tion of her own people and the safe- 

 guarding of her democratic institutions. 



What if America had suffered such 

 losses in proportion to her population? 

 Every man between the ages of 21 and 

 30 who registered for military service in 

 the United States on June 5, 19 17 — more 

 than nine and a half million in number — 

 would be a casualty today, and there 

 would still be a million and a half men 

 to be added from the registration lists of 

 September 12, 1918. Mothers, fathers, 

 wives, brothers, sisters, and sweethearts 

 would be mourning for five million Amer- 

 ican dead. 



For every ten men, women, and chil- 

 dren in France at the outbreak of the 

 war one able-bodied citizen in the prime 

 of manhood has either laid down his life 

 or suffered bodily injury. The casualties 

 in no other army save the Serbian even 

 approached such sweeping percentages. 



Truly, the sons of France gave them- 

 selves without stint for the cause of 

 world democracy. 



